Just Like a Shadow Story of Maria Robotnik
by classicdisney4thewin
Summary: ONESHOT! Shadow traveled back in time 50 years ago to save his friend Maria Robotnik's life. This story takes place on Earth, 2005, where she is now a full grown, old woman in her 60's. Now she re-tells the tale to her grand-children, one with a disease similar to hers.


**(I DO NOT KNOW MUCH ABOUT MARIA'S DISEASE, NIDS, I AM NOT A DOCTOR SO IF I GET SOMETHING WRONG DON'T BITCH AND WHINE ABOUT IT) Shadow traveled back in time 50 years ago to save his friend Maria Robotnik's life. This story takes place on Earth, 2005, where she is now a full grown, old woman in her 60's. She has a daughter named Persephone and 4 grandchildren, Henry, Stan, Audrey, and Krista, who is gravely ill with a disease that sparks Maria's mind, and the gruesome memory of the day Shadow the Hedgehog saved her life and supposedly died.**

Maria paid the cab driver, and walked in the slick rain and up the steps to her daughter's house. She knocked on the door and her youngest grandson Stan, no more than 5 years old, opened the door.

"Hello Stanley" she greeted, "May I come in?"

He shyly nodded as he ran down the hallway and tugged on his mother's blouse, pointing to his grandmother. Maria removed her rain boots and hung up her raincoat.

"Oh mother I'm so glad you could come!" Persephone cried gently pulling her mother inside.

"Oh it's not so bad taking that cab all the way here. After all I never get to see my grandchildren", she said bending down and giving Stan a hug. "So how's Krista?" she whispered.

"She's...she's struggling right now. This disease...is...making her incredibly weak. And she can't eat, she can't sleep. Her skin is pale as ice, and...doctors are doing everything they can to cure her."

Persephone held her forehead and tried hard to hold back the tears as Maria gently wrapped her arm around her and walked into Krista's room down the hall.

"I've checked everywhere online to find out what illness this is, but it's like it's unknown. There's no cure", she chocked, "I don't know if she's going to-"

"She's not going to die!" Maria interrupted.

Persephone and her mother walked into Krista's room. The girl was barley awake and plastic wrap was spread around the walls and floors. Her room was completely empty except for her bed that rested in a corner towards the window. Rain drops cast shadows across her thick quilt.

"Here" Persephone said handing Maria a bunched up white suit with a breathing tube and big yellow gloves, "I ordered these from the hospital. You never know if it's contagious" she sighed.

Maria ignored her as she walked across the plastic wrap and studied Krista's face. She brushed her granddaughter's hair back and felt her ice cold forehead.

"Mom! What the hell are you doing?!" Persephone gasped.

"I know what this is" Maria muttered, "Krista is diagnosed with NIDS"

"What?"

"Neouro-Immuno Defiency Syndrome. It's very rare."

"Will...will it last? Is there a cure?"

"If she doesn't get the proper treatment, it will get worse."

Krista turned her head to face her mom and grandmother.

"I had this disease a long time ago, and I'm still living" Maria spoke looking up at her daughter, "I assure you she won't die"

The memories of being in the Space Ark Colony suddenly sparked inside her mind. All these years she had tried to push those thoughts aside, and now they came flooding in; looking at a reflection of Earth, bonding with a dark mysterious life form created by her grandfather, running away from G.U.N, guided by her savior.

_Shadow no! Don't do this please Shadow I beg you NO!_

Persephone's husband peeked inside and interrupted her series of flashbacks.

"The reservations are ready, are you sure you want to leave the kids here?" he asked.

"What's going on?" Maria asked.

"Hugh's taking me to a gourmet dinner that we've been planning for months, but we don't have anyone to watch the kids"

"I wouldn't mind"

"Really?"

"Of course, it's all I ever wanted to do this evening"

Persephone and Hugh thanked Maria and said goodbye to their children as they headed out the door.

"Granny? Is Krista gonna get better?" Audrey asked.

Maria nodded as she escorted the children into Krista's room.

"Granny mom and dad said were not supposed to be in here"

"I know Henry, I just thought maybe your sister would like to hear a story about me when I was her age."

The children grew excited as their Granny pulled in a chair from the living room and set it next to Krista's bed. Audrey, Henry, and Stanley gathered around the frail old woman in excitement. Maria took a deep breath. She has never told a single person on Earth what happened to her in the Space Colony Ark.

"Seeing Krista this ill has reminded me of myself when I was her age. This is the story of my life back 50 years ago. I've never told anyone what happened, so you'd all be the first to hear" she spoke smiling down at her 3 grandchildren.

"Listen well because every bit of this is true"

Krista turned and looked up at her grandmother.

"When I was young, I went on board an Ark deep in the midst of space. Every day I looked back down on planet Earth and thought of how much I missed the good old days there. Living in space isn't all what it's cracked up to be" she chuckled.

"You went to space?" Audrey asked.

"I was gravely ill like your sister, and back in my days we didn't have the best medicine and medical research, so my grandfather took me up into space to create a cure, an immortal life form Shadow the Hedgehog. He was nothing like you kids have ever sen before. He was a slick black creature that looked a little human like. He had red streaks in his quills and white and red shoes and gloves. He had bright red crimson eyes and a dark yet cunning stare. "

Maria stared at the glass looking out into space and studied each glistening star. A Pair of red eyes reflected from the glass as she turned around surprised to see Shadow. They hadn't interacted much or had any long conversations with each other during the first week of his existence, but the ultimate life form stood by her side and asked why she constantly looks at a reflection of Earth. Maria told him all about how she was originally from there and was longing to venture back once her grand father was done with his project."

"I never told him about my disease the first few days he was brought to life. Shadow would find out eventually."

"What did you and Shadow do in space?" Stanley asked.

"We mostly talked. There was nothing else to do on the Ark. You'd think it'd be boring but with Shadow and my grand father around it really never was. And throughout the weeks our friendship grew stronger"

Maria drowsly laid against the glass with Shadow by her side. She gently opened her eyes and tilted her head.

_Shadow, once my grandfather is done with his project, and we finally go back to Earth, will you and I still be friends?_

For the first time ever Shadow smiled and grasped her hand, nodding as Maria smiled and rested her head against his.

"Did Shadow ever find out about NIDS?" Henry asked.

"I'm sure he did. One day he saw me sitting in my room. I was just twisting my hair around and zoning out, when suddenly he rushed over and draped his arms around me, his head rested against my shoulder. The poor thing looked like he was about to cry. I wanted to ask him what was wrong but by his expression I knew my grandfather must have told him about my disease."

_Shadow, do you know the reason why were up hear in this Ark? Why I brought my 12 year old grand daughter up here with me?_

Shadow stared in the eyes of his creator not saying a word.

_Maria has a disease, we don't know much about it, or how long she has to live._

_A disease?_

_NIDS. I created you to study the concept of immortality... I just want a cure for her_

Gerald grew teary as Shadow rested his hand on his arm.

_I'll do whatever I can to help cure Maria_

Gerald nodded.

_I know you will_

Shadow rushed out of the room to find Maria, and just moments later Gerald found them sitting side by side on the floor of her room. Shadows head once again resting on Maria's shoulder, hand in hand.

"That was the day I realized something. Shadow was the cure for my disease. He took my mind off of the whole thing."

"What happened to him?" spoke a hoarse voice.

Everyone looked up and noticed Krista was sitting up in bed.

"Honey you should lay back down and rest."

"I want to hear the rest of the story first"

Maria smiled as she continued to get to the toughest part, the part that made her quiver in fear.

"Guardian Unit of Nations invaded the Ark. It all went by so fast I hardly had any idea what was going on. All I know is that they were threatening to take us hostage. It all began moments before they arrived, when Shadow suddenly teleported in front of me with a shiny emerald."

_Maria you and Gerald have to leave right now!_

_What are you saying?!_

Suddenly a door barged open and the sound of multiple footsteps echoed through the Ark. Shadow grabbed Maria's hand and ran away from the G.U.N. The young girl struggled to keep up with the hedgehog, so he immediately picked her up and sprinted all the way to the control room where the cryogenic tube was kept. Shadow set her down, held her hand tight and led her to a door on the side. In it were boxes of food and beverages Gerald had packed at the start of their trip.

_Shadow what are you-_

Her sentence was cut off as the black hedgehog walked her inside.

_Don't worry about me Maria, I'm immortal and you're just so young._

_He smiled as Maria sat down on the floor with tears in her eyes._

_I'll get you out of here and we can go back home to Earth_

_With my grandfather?_

He nodded as Maria hugged him tightly, tears rolling down her face as she gently whispered _I love you_

Shadow stood back up and locked the door shut as G.U.N barged in.

Maria could only hear muffled voices from outside, but she did her best to keep quiet. Deep inside her mind she wanted to scream and barge out from the storage room to save her friend.

Suddenly Maria heard a gunshot and she began to cry even harder.

Hours passed until finally someone opened up the door. She slowly stood up, embracing the light as it shone through the dark room. A man stepped inside and studied her face.

_Are you miss Maria Robotnik? _

He was not a member of G.U.N., but looked more like a scientist.

She nodded.

"I am a professor for a research center of NIDS. We heard about your rare illness and wanted to try and do some more experiments and research with patients like you. I got an urgent call from someone telling me I would find you here up in the ARK, are you all right?

She nodded and rushed out to see if Shadow had survived. The floor was completely clean and empty. No Shadow, G.U.N. member, or even a single drop of blood.

_Where's Shadow?_

"The scientist took me back down to Earth at last and although he did not officially cure my disease, he gave me the best treatment that could be found in all of planet Earth.

"So you're still sick" Krista said.

"Once Shadow came into my life I felt 100% better. I never really needed all of that medical attention. He was the cure the whole time, and I have my grandfather to thank for that"

Maria and Krista looked out and noticed the other three had fallen asleep. The old woman smiled and picked Stan up.

"I'll put them to bed"

After each child was asleep Maria felt exhausted and decided to rest on the couch until Persephone and Hugh had returned from their night out.

"Hey Granny?" Krista asked as she passed her room.

"Yes dear?" she replied sitting down on her bed.

"How come you never told anyone about Shadow?"

"Well I didn't think anyone would believe-"

"I believe you" she cheered sitting up a little bit more.

Maria laughed.

"The second reason is because I never liked remembering the part where Shadow died-"

"He's not dead Granny! He's immortal remember!"

"Well yes. But the most important reason why is because I knew the story would help you keep your hopes up, Shadow's out there somewhere. He'll always be there to maintain life on Earth, protect us all, and watch over us, just like a shadow." They both looked up at the window as the rain continued to fall until Maria saw a familiar figure out in their garden, with deep red eyes. Krista gasped as she leapt out of bed and ran out into the backyard.

"Krista wait!" Maria called out.

They finally reached the flower bed the black figure had been standing in.

"Granny do you think that was him? Was it really Shadow?" Krista asked with excitement.

"I-I don't know what that was."

"It was Shadow wasn't it! The one who protects and watches over us just like you said!"

Maria pulled her granddaughter close and smiled.

"Yes. That's right. Now off to bed."

"Do you think I'll ever get to meet him?"

"I'm sure you will"

After Krista had gone to bed, Maria hiked up to a hill where a large oak tree stood. The rain continued to fall as she gazed back at the house just as she did with planet Earth back at the ARK. As she looked down at her shadow, another one appeared by her side. Maria's eyes widened as she looked up and saw the black hedgehog standing right in front of her. He was the exact same age as he was 50 years ago. Maria's eyes filled with tears of joy. She knelt down as Shadow wrapped her in his arms.

"Were here Maria, just like you wished."

Maria smiled and nodded as she once again fell asleep by her heroic friend, Shadow's head resting against her shoulder as they gently held hands.

"I beg you Shadow, you'll have to take my place in the future. Everyone who lives on that planet...give them a chance and they will live very blessed lives. Then our wish will be realized. You were created just for that cause. The one who will watch over and protect us just like a shadow." – Maria Robotnik (Sonic X Japanese Version with English subtitles episode 38


End file.
